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Thanks to CHANTIX and 4 unexpected days in the hospital with pneumonia that I survived with less than 200 T-cells.

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32 years poz LTS with no expiration date

Diagnosed HIV 1982Diagnosed AIDS 2001

As of June 2015, VL <20 CD 435 26%

Currently taking a daily total of 17 meds while only two meds for AIDS, the rest for other body organs effected by years of retrovirals. Diagnosed with Lung Cancer 2012, COPD Stage 4 2015, IBS 2013, Chronic Cystitis, Chronic Renal Failure, Hearing Loss, Depression and everyday comes with different health episodes which has sent me to the Er via EMS on a regular basis. My quality of life has been impacted dramatically.

congrats atxpozm !I'm sorry to hear about the hospital stay. Hope you are better and stronger. Don't give in to any cravings now...from my personal experience, I will always be a smoker, so I can't smoke at all, not even one little puff, or I know I'll get right back to it.

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POSITIVE PEDALERS... We are a group of people living with HIV/AIDS, eliminating stigma through our positive public example.

Dan J.

Well, wish this southern boy luck. I got a prescription for Chantix today. & will set my quit date for the 8th. This is the first REAL ATTEMPT to actually stop smoking. I have been smoking since I was 16 years old & I am READY to quit. With my family history of heart disease I really, really need to & besides I can't afford 3.88 a pack a day anymore.

Just read through this entire thread today, and boy, have y'all convinced me that it is time! Have gone from 2 packs a day to <1, but I think it is time for a little assistance with quitting.Hopefully, I will be able to start on Chantix before I see all of you in SF!Wish me luck! Vince

Hope it works for you Dan! I went from being a two pack a day smoker to last month only smoked 5 packs. Believe me it is not the easiest thing to just up and quit. There are days I could just die for a smoke.

Dan J.

I can honestly say that I never really enjoyed smoking cigs. The only time I REALLY want one is after I've smoked some weed. Probably need to give that up too... I don't smoke in the house or in the car & I can go 6 hours without one so I am ready. I haven't started taking Chantix, yet... I need to set a date to actually quit.

Anyone can quit smoking it is just the will power to say not going to smoke anymore.

With the price of a pack is so damn high today it is a good thing to say stop. Also Chantix contains no nicatine as for the patch it does. The little blue pill triggers the brain to stop the cravings only.

Since getting on Chantix I now smoke a pack or two a week instead of 2 packs+ a day (did you say chain smoker?). I usually get the first one in the afternoon around 5, instead of jumping on one when waking up. I smoke 3 or 4 in the evening, but I've been going to bed around 1-2am since I've had the puppy. I never take the pack with me when I go for errands, and always put the pack out of sight after I take a cigarette. Writing about cigarettes doesn't make me want one.

Jerry is right about the fact that this drug has NO nicotine in it. So there is no nicotine addiction continuing like when you use the patches or gums. This magic pill just stops the cravings. The ones I take are for "pleasure", and they don't taste good, they're the last ones that are related to habit and very hard to get rid of.

Another good thing is that you can smoke while taking this drug. As long as it's a dramatic change from what you used to smoke I think it's fine. If you still smoke 2 packs a day after a 10 days of chantix then it's not working for you. Most people seem to dramatically change the amount they smoke after 3 or 4 days.

I have a question for those that have quit or considerably decreased consumption with Chantix. Do you get bothered by other people smoking around you? Seeing people smoke make you want to smoke? I get bothered by the smell now but seeing people doesn't give me the urge to smoke at all.

Well update on my not smoking here the last few days I have developed a rash from taking Chantix and had to stop my treatment. Seems just about like most of my meds that I have taken in the past some have worked and others have not. I can so though that after taken the Chantix for over a month I have not smoked as much as I had in the past. Also with the area I live in it is hard to just up and quit all together since the state I live in grows most of the tobacco. I am just going to limit myself and not smoke like a freight train like I did in the past. I am fine just as long as I'm not around others that smoke. As I type this Lisa is shaking her head at me. LOL oh well I tried. To the others that have taken this good luck in all that you do and don't give up trying to quit.

Yeah since I have been off of Chantix the rash is slowly going away. It was the Chantix that caused the rash because all my other meds I have been taking have not had any side effects. At least I have cut back on my smoking! Yeah Milker bring your whip with you catch me if you can. Might just have to race you up Telgraph Hill. LOL

It's okay to give up for a day or two, but remember that you won't take Chantix for the rest of your life, and you need to deal with those cravings. So start working on them. You're the one that convinced me I could do it, so help each other, here.

My experience is that you should never, ever, tell anyone that you have quit smoking. If they notice you say well I'm trying to and leave it at that. Too much pressure results in failure, explanation and guilt.

My experience is that you should never, ever, tell anyone that you have quit smoking. If they notice you say well I'm trying to and leave it at that. Too much pressure results in failure, explanation and guilt.

Yeah that's interesting, almost all the support groups say "tell everyone, tell everyone", I never saw one that said "keep it for yourself". I agree with you what's the point of telling everyone if you're going to have guilty feelings if you fail. And people will laugh next time you try, or say "whatever, yeah, that will last a week again".. been there done that.

When I see Jerry's super happy posts about how he feels when he's not smoking a pack or two a day I have to tell him to continue trying. A relapse is a call of the mind to remind that the treatment is not over, and it needs more help.

I wonder if there is something that could counteract the rash while staying on Chantix? Talk to your doctor!

I know why you cut back AFTER AMG. You want to try that whip with Dan and I

Well just found out what was causing the rash it was not the Chantix it was my multi-vitamins that I was taken it had Sulfate in them. I am allergic to sulfar and it was causing me to have a rash. I could just kick myself in the ass thought it was the Chantix. Well I did start back on Chantix today. So far so good. I can only say one thing about this product it stops the cravings. It will not prevent you to ever pick up a smoke from time to time though.

It's your turn to slap me, Jerry, I've increased my smoking recently, but I'm hoping to go back to much less tomorrow. I know i'm smoking because of settings (people around me smoking and I'm not saying no), so I have to work on that.

what is up? Just don't give in, you can do it, but you have to want to...When I quit, everytime I had a craving I would grab a piece of gum or sniff a jar I had with cig buds ( that smell alone will make you want to quit). Eat ( I had olives at work and would pop them everytime I had a craving).Get some herbal cigarettes ( they are tobacco and nicotine free), when I had bad cravings I would light one up, and since they are not tobacco, they did not taste right and I'd end up putting it away after a puff or two.Of course I do smoke pot and it did help. I notice I smoke more pot during the first 3 weeks of quitting cigarettes, but now it is back to my "regular" intake, I don't smoke more pot now that I quit cigs.

Don't give up guys...you can do it...I used to smoke 1 pack of Camels a day and I have not touched a cigarette since March 14, 2007.

Rich(who still had not lost faith on his quitting pals)

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POSITIVE PEDALERS... We are a group of people living with HIV/AIDS, eliminating stigma through our positive public example.

Prescription arrived in the mail today. Not sure whether to start first dose tonight, or wait until morning (and swallow one more pill).Did anyone take the Chantix along with their meds, or have you tried to keep some time/distance between the different 'scripts?I also thought about waiting until after AMG, but this is something I need to do for myself, so... why wait? If I have one or two cigs with a drink while we are all together, I won't beat myself up over it (but Milker, about that whip ) !I know I can... I know I can... I know I can...

it's easy for me to not smoke with Chantix. But the evil mind is taking over.. remember how cool it was to smoke, remember how the meals felt so much better.. I think this could be what Jerry is experiencing, we started Chantix at more or less the same time and we're having the same detox problem, so I hope it's just a "blip" as they say, and Jerry and I will be back on track soon. If i'm focused on work I don't smoke at all, like I used to, so basically I was back today to not smoking at all during the day. I had 1 after coffee this morning, and i'm having too many right now.

Good you brought that up Milker. My weekends are my worse when I get most of my cravings to have one or when I am around others in my family that do smoke. Also when I went down to visit with Lisa I had to have one OK a pack or three.

Good you brought that up Milker. My weekends are my worse when I get most of my cravings to have one or when I am around others in my family that do smoke. Also when I went down to visit with Lisa I had to have one OK a pack or three.

And I will blame my lesbian neighbors that I've been hanging out much more those days. They smoke and laughed when I said I was in the process of stopping smoking.

Yay I blamed someone else !

But yeah, it doesn't help. But then again I know that I could see them and not smoke at all. So it's all about controlling myself.

I have been a bad boy here lately and have smoked a pack a day since I recently went to visit Lisa.

Will try my best to get back on track after AMG.

Hope everyone is doing better with this than I have had. If I just stayed home and never visited my sister I would be smoke free. But she smokes and my brotherlaw smokes anb my niece and dad smoke. Last weekend had a family get together and it was rough watching everyone smoke. I went off on my own and had my smoke.

I took Chantix for two months and have not had a cigarette since. I sometimes think about it when I am doing some thing that usually involved smoking but its just a passing thought and no cravings . I go to bars and have friends who smoke but it doesnt bother me or make me want one when i am around them. Good luck to everyone who is trying to quit and I think the Chantix will be beneficial for anyone who doesnt want to quit cold turkey.

I am on my 40 day of not smoking - using Chantix - it has been GREAT - the easiest I have ever quit. No withdrawals and cravings have been minor - I have used the website and the email notifications which to my surprise have helped.

I started to have chest pains on the 25 day - but they went away. Not sure if it had anything to do with Chantix. It felt like I had smoked a pack in one sitting - it last 3 days...

i quit once for 4 years with welbutrin and the patch. i started running and working out. stopped running and workingout and smoke followed. that was 7 years ago. tried many times and never did more then 6 weeks. got chantix a month and half ago. been smoke free for 38 days now. I smoked the first week on chantix and on day 8 I just didn't want one. It helped that I had bronchitas that last weekend of smoking. back to the gym and havn't wanted a cig since chantix. all the past times I quit i aways craved cigs. this time i don't. I do belive yu have to really want to quit. but chantix sure helps me.

I used the web support program they offer and I helpped me. Don't try to quit right away, you can still smoke when you get those bad cravings during your first week. I hope it works for you just as it did for me.I had my last cigarette on March 14...AMG will be my 6th moth aniversary

Rich

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POSITIVE PEDALERS... We are a group of people living with HIV/AIDS, eliminating stigma through our positive public example.

Hi everyone well I just had my last smoke because today is my quit day but I already have noticed that the cravings are not that strong I have been able to go 3 hours without smoking since I started taking the pills so I feel really good about it. well thanks for being there I'll keep you posted bye for now

Well, I was ready to get Chantix and stop the smokes. For years I was able to use the excuse that I was about to die and it wasn't going to be from lung cancer; but since it looks like I'll be living for a while, I figured I'd have to do something about this bad habit.

But today when I checked in at the pharmacy (in Ohio), neither medicare or medicaid would pay for it. What's up with that? You'd think with all the taxes I pay on my cigs here (one of highest taxed states since they have to have some way to pay for the ballparks and stadiums) that at least some would go to covering some sort of anti-smoking meds.

So I bought two packs of smokes and left.

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leatherman (aka mIkIE)

All the stars are flashing high above the seaand the party is on fire around you and meWe're gonna burn this disco down before the morning comes- Pet Shop Boys chart from 1992-2015Isentress/Prezcobix

wellbutrin really seems to have done something all permanent-like to me. i can still pick up a pack and smoke like a demon if i got 'em, but once they are gone i can go without them no problem. i mean, if i smoke like crazy for a day and run out by early evening, i might have some cravings that evening until i go to bed- but by the next day i have no cravings at all.

i used to nic out like you wouldn't believe and couldn't imagine going without the smokes.

now whether i smoke or not is relative to the environment i am in or the company i am keeping. i tend to buy them for things like that- if i am going to visit friends that smoke a lot, i'll buy some to have while there & not mooch off them. i'll smoke 'em til they're gone and that's that.